The FujiSankei Business i recently ran a three-part series on the rise and fall of Sahashi. This will be a rehash of events for most readers, but the series drives home the point that Sahashi's hubris brought the company down. Here's Part 1.

As you may know, Japan will start collecting biometric data for all foreigners coming into Japan as of November 20 under the guise of the fictitious War on Terror. How very curious that fingerprinting was done away with years ago only to be brought back with the excuse that it will protect Japan from terrorists. Just to make sure everyone knows what a threat foreigners are to Japan, Justice minister, Kunio Hatoyama, recently told the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo that he knew of a friend of a friend who was an Al Qaeda member.

Two weeks following the death of Lindsay Ann Hawker, the suspect is still on the loose. Reporting by the Japanese media has followed a typical pattern--pretty much all we know is what the police have told the media and what the media has relayed to its readers and viewers.